Genetic Diversity of Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is one of the Invasive Alien Species in the Republic of Korea; and is one of the major weeds in the upland crop. Polymorphism and genetic diversity among 5 populations collected from the Republic of Korea, were investigated by using 7 EST-SSR markers and 8 newly-developed SSR markers. As a result, the general genetic diversity of A. artemisiifolia would have been slowly decreased, and intra-population genetic diversity, however, would have been maintained at a high level. The results suggest that gene flow between A. artemisiifolia populations in the Republic of Korea could be limited. As a result of principal coordinates analysis, some populations grouped with Far-East Russian populations suggesting that the Koreans and the Russians might be genetically related.

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